Throughout Thursday, people in Butler County and across the United States will come together to pray for the nation.

That is because Thursday will be the 58th annual National Day of Prayer, which officially began when President Harry Truman designated a day of prayer. President Ronald Reagan moved the day to the first Thursday in May.

A number of churches in the county will take part in the event.

The Rev. Reid Moon, pastor of the Zelienople Church of Christ and the Harmony-Zelienople Ministerium, said this year's theme as set by the National Day of Prayer's task Force is "Prayer ... America's Hope."

"We get this one day out of the year to pray in mass, to call the nation to prayer," Moon said, adding that while there are weekly prayer services, the National Day of Prayer is a chance to focus all prayers on one idea.

"It is an affirmation that through Christ all things are possible, a call to Christ," he said.

Pat Fecich, pastor of administration for New Life Christian Ministries in Saxonburg, said prayer is the foundation of everything for those in her church.

"We pray before we do anything, and the National Day of Prayer is the chance to get our nation back to prayer that it was based on," Fecich said.

At 9:30 a.m. Thursday, about 22 members of the church and anyone else who wants to join them will meet in the Elmcroft parking lot on Bella Drive in Saxonburg for a prayer walk.

"We will walk past places of government, education, businesses and homes, and pray that God's blessings are with everyone, especially with the men and women of our government, as our nation was founded on God's prayer," she said.

Moon said the ministerium is planning four events:

• A prayer breakfast at 7:30 a.m. at the Grace Church in Harmony with Matthew Reichart, director of Pine Valley Camp, speaking;

• A mid-day prayer service for business owners, their employees, and municipal leaders at the Zelienople Municipal Building;

• An evening community-wide prayer walk from 5 to 6 p.m., praying for families in the community. Prayer request cards will be left at homes along the walk, and

• A community-wide prayer service at 6:30 p.m. at Shelter A in the Zelienople Community Park. The prayer focus will be praise and revival.

"This is an opportunity to, as a body, rise up in prayer," Moon said.

For information about the National Day of Prayer, go to www.ndptf.org/.

For information about events with the Zelienople Church of Christ and the Harmony-Zelienople Ministerium, go to www.hzchurches.org.

For other events in the county, call individual churches for information.